Vermont

The Eddy House

This old farmhouse, formerly the home of the Eddy family, has been called the "Spirit Capitol of the Universe," and more than five hundred ghosts
are said to have materialized in a room set for séances. Julie Ann and Zephaniah Eddy always thought their two sons, William and Horatio, were
a bit odd. An invisible hand seemed to rock their cradles, and the boys spent hours playing with invisible children, and they were not allowed to
attend school because of the variety of poltergeist effects that plagued their classroom whenever they were present. Then Zephaniah hit upon the
idea of exhibiting his haunted children. He toured the country with the boys and their two sisters, where were less psychically gifted. He asked
the children to go into a trance and then poured boiling water on them to prove the phenomenon was genuine. He scarred William for life by
placing red hot coals in his hands. He even poured hot wax over the children's mouths to show that they were not throwing their voices. Crowds
never protested the brutal treatment, but they did attack the Eddy's on religious grounds, saying the brothers were possessed by the devil. One
mob in Danvers, Massachusetts threw stones and fired guns at them. William was hit in the legs with a blast from a shotgun. In Cleveland, Ohio,
a mob tried to tar and feather the Eddy's.

In 1874, after their father died, the brothers opened their home to anyone who wished to test their powers or attend séances, which were held
every night of the week except Sunday. They charged then dollars per week for lodging and attracted scores of people from all over the world.
Visitors included Henry Stell Olcot of the New York Sun and famed spiritualist Madame Helena Blavatsky. Guests had free run of the house and
were encouraged to inspect the premises carefully without fail, the brothers produced a bewildering array of spirits and apparitions. Some
séances were held outdoors at Honto's Cave named for the ghost of an Indian girl who inhabited it. Besides Honto, many other phantoms
appeared above the cave, floating twenty-five feet in the air. Eventually the brothers closed down their home and lived off their savings. Horatio
died in 1922, and William in 1932. To this day, no one has been able to explain how the brothers produced their colorful display of ghostly
presence's.

Bibliography: Hauck, Dennis. (1994). Haunted Places: Ghost Abodes, Sacred Sites, UFO landings, and other supernatural locations. New York:
Penguin Book.